Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,344,618 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 768,029 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.66% of Verizon Communications worth $1,157,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. USS Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,790,000 after acquiring an additional 31,354 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 317,284 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $13,434,000 after purchasing an additional 25,156 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $97,059,000 after acquiring an additional 316,854 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 127.0% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 184,170 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,798,000 after acquiring an additional 103,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,171,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.84.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on VZ
Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4%
Shares of VZ opened at $50.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $45.91 and its 200-day moving average is $47.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.70%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications
In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Verizon Communications Company Profile
(
Free Report)
Verizon Communications Inc NYSE: VZ is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.
The company's consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.
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